Silvester Auldyngton

Silvester Auldyngton was a Parliamentarian officer during the English Civil War. He was infuriated when King Charles I of England implemented strict tax laws to fund his Scottish campaigns, and he also opposed his belief in the "divine right to rule" and his oppositon to Parliament. Auldyngton was later trained as a New Model Army soldier, coming to value discipline. In 1645, he supported Oliver Cromwell's appointment as Lieutenant-Colonel of cavalry in the days preceding the Battle of Naseby, and he went on to fight in the battle as an officer in Cromwell's cavalry regiment. He and his soldiers turned the tide of battle in a decisive cavalry charge, forcing the Royalist cavalry to flee over a hill, and pursuing them as they fled. Following the battle, he expressed his hope that King Charles would listen to Parliament, although he stated that he knew that it might be too late for that.